System and method for generating a thumbnail image for an audiovisual file

ABSTRACT

A system and method for generating a thumbnail image for an audiovisual file. The thumbnail image may be used to convey information about the content of the audiovisual file to a user. With respect to audio files, the information may be the type of audio content, a musical genre, a tempo of the audio content, and one or more indications of the popularity of the audio content.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The technology of the present disclosure relates generally toassociating graphical information with a directory listing of anaudiovisual file and, more particularly, to a system and method forgenerating a thumbnail image for an audiovisual file.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Most computers and electronic devices allow a user to browse for filesthrough a directory made up of a hierarchy of folders. The filescontained within a folder may be viewed in one of several manners. Forinstance, the user may have the choice of viewing files by name only, byname and file details (e.g., a table containing file name, file size,file type, and date modified), by name and icon where the icongraphically represents a program that is designated for opening the filetype associated with the file, or by name and thumbnail.

Conventional thumbnails are static images used to provide the user witha preview of the contents of the file. For example, a thumbnail of animage file may be a representation of the image. As another example, athumbnail of a video file may be a representation of the first frame ofthe video file. But thumbnails associated with audio files havetraditionally been an icon of a software program (e.g., media player)designated for playing audio files. In some instances, a thumbnailassociated with an audio file may take the form of a graphic or image,such as album cover art that is associated with the audio content of theaudio file.

SUMMARY

To enhance the information presented in a thumbnail associated with anaudiovisual file, the present disclosure describes an improved systemand method for generating a thumbnail image for an audiovisual file. Thethumbnail image may be used to convey information about the content ofthe audiovisual file to the user. With respect to audio files, theinformation may be, but is not limited to, the type of audio content(e.g., music or speech), a musical genre (e.g., pop music, classicalmusic, hip-hop, classic rock, jazz, etc.), a timestamp of when the audiocontent was recorded or the associated audio file was saved, a tempo ofthe audio content, and an indication of popularity of the audio content(e.g., popularity among a community of persons, or popularity among theconsuming public is indicated by song or album sales or by score on amusic chart).

According to one aspect of the disclosure, a method of graphicallyrepresenting an audiovisual file used to store audiovisual content witha thumbnail image includes analyzing data related to the audiovisualfile for each of plural data categories, each data category associatedwith a portion of a thumbnail template; for each data category,identifying at least one of a graphic or a graphical attribute based onthe data analysis; and generating the thumbnail image by applying the atleast one graphic or graphical attribute for each data category to theassociated portion of the thumbnail template.

According to one embodiment of the method, the portions of the thumbnailtemplate include a background and at least one sub-icon overlaid withrespect to the background.

According to one embodiment of the method, at least one portion of thethumbnail image is user interactive.

According to one embodiment of the method, the interactive portion ofthe thumbnail image provides a link to at least one of an Internetwebpage or a file that has an association with the audiovisual content.

According to one embodiment of the method, the interactive portion ofthe thumbnail image provides information about the audiovisual content.

According to one embodiment of the method, the thumbnail image isdisplayed on a display of an electronic device.

According to one embodiment of the method, the electronic device is amobile telephone.

According to one embodiment of the method, one of the data categoriesrelates to at least one of age of the audiovisual content or playfrequency of the audiovisual content.

According to one embodiment of the method, a color of the portion of thethumbnail template corresponding to the age or play frequency datacategory is selected to portray at least one of relative age of theaudiovisual content or relative play frequency of the audiovisualcontent.

According to one embodiment of the method, one of the data categoriesrelates to commercial success of the audiovisual content.

According to one embodiment of the method, a graphical attribute of theportion of the thumbnail image corresponding to the commercial successdata category is selected to convey relative commercial success of theaudiovisual content relative to other items of audiovisual content.

According to one embodiment of the method, a community of users ofaudiovisual content is formed and one of the data categories relates tocommunity interest in the audiovisual content.

According to one embodiment of the method, a graphical attribute of theportion of the thumbnail image corresponding to the community interestdata category is selected to convey relative community interest in theaudiovisual content relative to other items of audiovisual content.

According to one embodiment of the method, one of the data categoriesrelates to genre of the audiovisual content and the correspondingportion of the thumbnail image is a graphic that represents the genre ofthe audiovisual content.

According to one embodiment of the method, one of the data categoriesrelates to dominant musical instrument used in the audiovisual contentand the corresponding portion of the thumbnail image is a graphic thatrepresents the dominant musical instrument.

According to one embodiment of the method, the audiovisual content is asong and the method further includes visually representing a tempo ofthe song by pulsing at least a portion of the thumbnail image at a ratecommensurate with a beat rate value associated with the song.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, a method of conveyinginformation about a song to a user of an electronic device includesidentifying a beat rate for the song; displaying at least one of afilename, an icon or a thumbnail image for the song; and changing anattribute of the at least one of the filename, the icon or the thumbnailimage to have a relationship to the beat rate.

According to one embodiment of the method of conveying information aboutthe song, the changing of the attribute includes pulsing the at leastone of the filename, the icon or the thumbnail at a rate commensuratewith the beat rate.

According to yet another aspect of the disclosure, a method of conveyinginformation about a song to a user of an electronic device includesidentifying an energy level of the song; displaying at least one of afilename, an icon or a thumbnail image for the song; and changing anattribute of the at least one of the filename, the icon or the thumbnailimage to have a relationship to the energy level and to depict energylevel of the song relative to the energy levels of other songs.

These and further features will be apparent with reference to thefollowing description and attached drawings. In the description anddrawings, particular embodiments have been disclosed in detail as beingindicative of some of the ways in which the principles of the inventionmay be employed, but it is understood that the invention is not limitedcorrespondingly in scope. Rather, the invention includes all changes,modifications and equivalents coming within the scope of the claimsappended hereto.

Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to oneembodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one ormore other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of thefeatures of the other embodiments.

It should be emphasized that the terms “comprises” and “comprising,”when used in this specification, are taken to specify the presence ofstated features, integers, steps or components but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,components or groups thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a mobile telephone as an exemplaryelectronic device that includes an audio file management function;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the mobile telephone of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communications system in which themobile telephone of FIG. 1 may operate;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of community of music users from whichdata for a thumbnail image may be derived;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary schematic block diagram of an audio filethumbnail;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary graphical representation of an audio filethumbnail; and

FIGS. 7 through 10 are representative audio file thumbnails generatedfor four exemplary songs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings,wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elementsthroughout. It will be understood that the figures are not necessarilyto scale.

The interchangeable terms “electronic equipment” and “electronic device”include portable radio communication equipment. The term “portable radiocommunication equipment,” which hereinafter is referred to as a “mobileradio terminal,” includes all equipment such as mobile telephones,pagers, communicators, electronic organizers, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), smartphones, portable communication apparatus or thelike.

In the present document, embodiments are described primarily in thecontext of a mobile telephone. It will be appreciated, however, that theexemplary context of a mobile telephone is not the only operationalenvironment and the operational environment may relate to any type ofappropriate electronic equipment, examples of which include a mediaplayer, a gaming device, a PDA and a general purpose computer.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, an electronic device 10 is shown.The electronic device 10 includes an audiovisual file managementfunction 12 that is configured to generate and maintain thumbnails foraudiovisual files stored by the electronic device 10, and allows userinteraction with the thumbnails. Additional details and operation of theaudiovisual file management function 12 will be described in greaterdetail below. The audiovisual file management function 12 may beembodied as executable code that is resident in and executed by theelectronic device 10. In one embodiment, the audiovisual file managementfunction 12 may be a program stored on a computer or machine readablemedium. The audiovisual file management function 12 may be a stand-alonesoftware application or form a part of a software application thatcarries out additional tasks related to the electronic device 10. Asdescribed below, the audiovisual file management function 12 mayinteract with an audiovisual file support function that is hosted by anetwork server. In some embodiments, the audiovisual file supportfunction may be responsible for generating and maintaining thethumbnails.

While the audiovisual file management function 12 is described in thisdocument in the context of generating thumbnail images for audio files,it will be appreciated that described techniques may be modified for usewith other types of files. These other types of files may include, forexample, image files (e.g., photographs) and video files. Therefore, thedescription of generating thumbnail images for audio files is anon-limiting exemplary operational context for the system and methoddisclosed by this document.

Also, the electronic device of the illustrated embodiment is a mobiletelephone and will be referred to as the mobile telephone 10. But asindicated, the illustration and description of the mobile telephone 10is a non-limiting exemplary operational context for the system andmethod disclosed by this document. Another exemplary operational contextfor the system and method is a general purpose computer system, such asa desktop or laptop personal computer that includes a memory for storingdata, a processor for executing logical instructions and a display forvisually presenting information to a user.

The exemplary mobile telephone 10 is shown as having a “brick” or“block” form factor housing, but it will be appreciated that otherhousing types may be utilized, such as a “flip-open” form factor (e.g.,a “clamshell” housing) or a slide-type form factor (e.g., a “slider”housing).

The mobile telephone 10 may include a display 14. The display 14displays information to a user such as operating state, time, telephonenumbers, contact information, various navigational menus, etc., thatenable the user to utilize the various features of the mobile telephone10. The display 14 also may be used to visually display content receivedby the mobile telephone 10 and/or retrieved from a memory 16 (FIG. 2) ofthe mobile telephone 10. The display 14 may be used to present images,video and other graphics to the user, such as photographs, mobiletelevision content and video associated with games.

The display 14 also may be used to display a directory of files storedby or made available to the mobile telephone 10. As described in greaterdetail below, each file may have an associated thumbnail image that isdisplayed on the display 14.

A keypad 18 provides for a variety of user input operations. Forexample, the keypad 18 may include alphanumeric keys for allowing entryof alphanumeric information such as telephone numbers, phone lists,contact information, notes, text, etc. In addition, the keypad 18 mayinclude special function keys such as a “call send” key for initiatingor answering a call, and a “call end” key for ending or “hanging up” acall. Special function keys also may include menu navigation and selectkeys to facilitate navigating through a menu displayed on the display14. For instance, a pointing device and/or navigation keys may bepresent to accept directional inputs from a user. Special function keysmay include audiovisual content playback keys to start, stop and pauseplayback, skip or repeat tracks, and so forth. Other keys associatedwith the mobile telephone may include a volume key, an audio mute key,an on/off power key, a web browser launch key, a camera key, etc. Keysor key-like functionality also may be embodied as a touch screenassociated with the display 14. Also, the display 14 and keypad 18 maybe used in conjunction with one another to implement soft keyfunctionality.

The mobile telephone 10 includes call circuitry that enables the mobiletelephone 10 to establish a call and/or exchange signals with acalled/calling device, which typically may be another mobile telephoneor landline telephone. However, the called/calling device need not beanother telephone, but may be some other device such as an Internet webserver, content providing server, etc. Calls may take any suitable form.For example, the call could be a conventional call that is establishedover a cellular circuit-switched network or a voice over InternetProtocol (VoIP) call that is established over a packet-switchedcapability of a cellular network or over an alternative packet-switchednetwork, such as WiFi (e.g., a network based on the IEEE 802.11standard), WiMax (e.g., a network based on the IEEE 802.16 standard),etc. Another example includes a video enabled call that is establishedover a cellular or alternative network.

The mobile telephone 10 may be configured to transmit, receive and/orprocess data, such as text messages, instant messages, electronic mailmessages, multimedia messages, image files, video files, audio files,ring tones, streaming audio, streaming video, data feeds (includingpodcasts and really simple syndication (RSS) data feeds), and so forth.It is noted that a text message is commonly referred to by some as “anSMS,” which stands for simple message service. SMS is a typical standardfor exchanging text messages. Similarly, a multimedia message iscommonly referred to by some as “an MMS,” which stands for multimediamessage service. MMS is a typical standard for exchanging multimediamessages. Processing data may include storing the data in the memory 16,executing applications to allow user interaction with the data,displaying video and/or image content associated with the data,outputting audio sounds associated with the data, and so forth.

FIG. 2 represents a functional block diagram of the mobile telephone 10.For the sake of brevity, many features of the mobile telephone 10 willnot be described in great detail. The mobile telephone 10 includes aprimary control circuit 20 that is configured to carry out overallcontrol of the functions and operations of the mobile telephone 10. Thecontrol circuit 20 may include a processing device 22, such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU), microcontroller or microprocessor. The processingdevice 22 executes code stored in a memory (not shown) within thecontrol circuit 20 and/or in a separate memory, such as the memory 16,in order to carry out operation of the mobile telephone 10. The memory16 may be, for example, one or more of a buffer, a flash memory, a harddrive, a removable media, a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, arandom access memory (RAM), or other suitable device. In a typicalarrangement, the memory 16 may include a non-volatile memory (e.g., aNAND or NOR architecture flash memory) for long term data storage and avolatile memory that functions as system memory for the control circuit20. The volatile memory may be a RAM implemented with synchronousdynamic random access memory (SDRAM). The memory 16 may exchange datawith the control circuit 20 over a data bus. Accompanying control linesand an address bus between the memory 16 and the control circuit 20 alsomay be present.

In addition, the processing device 22 may execute code that implementsthe audiovisual file management function 12. It will be apparent to aperson having ordinary skill in the art of computer programming, andspecifically in application programming for mobile telephones or otherelectronic devices, how to program a mobile telephone 10 to operate andcarry out logical functions associated with the audiovisual filemanagement function 12. Accordingly, details as to specific programmingcode have been left out for the sake of brevity. Also, while theaudiovisual file management function 12 is executed by the processingdevice 22 in accordance with an embodiment, such functionality couldalso be carried out via dedicated hardware or firmware, or somecombination of hardware, firmware and/or software.

Continuing to refer to FIGS. 1 and 2, the mobile telephone 10 includesan antenna 24 coupled to a radio circuit 26. The radio circuit 26includes a radio frequency transmitter and receiver for transmitting andreceiving signals via the antenna 24. The radio circuit 26 may beconfigured to operate in a mobile communications system and may be usedto send and receive data and/or audiovisual content. Receiver types forinteraction with a mobile radio network and/or broadcasting networkinclude, but are not limited to, global system for mobile communications(GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA),general packet radio service (GPRS), WiFi, WiMax, digital videobroadcasting-handheld (DVB-H), integrated services digital broadcasting(ISDB), etc., as well as advanced versions of these standards.

The mobile telephone 10 further includes a sound signal processingcircuit 28 for processing audio signals transmitted by and received fromthe radio circuit 26. Coupled to the sound processing circuit 28 are aspeaker 30 and a microphone 32 that enable a user to listen and speakvia the mobile telephone 10 as is conventional. The radio circuit 26 andsound processing circuit 28 are each coupled to the control circuit 20so as to carry out overall operation. Audio data may be passed from thecontrol circuit 20 to the sound signal processing circuit 28 forplayback to the user. The audio data may include, for example, audiodata from an audio file stored by the memory 16 and retrieved by thecontrol circuit 20, or received audio data such as in the form ofstreaming audio data from a mobile radio service. The sound processingcircuit 28 may include any appropriate buffers, decoders, amplifiers andso forth.

The display 14 may be coupled to the control circuit 20 by a videoprocessing circuit 34 that converts video data to a video signal used todrive the display 14. The video processing circuit 34 may include anyappropriate buffers, decoders, video data processors and so forth. Thevideo data may be generated by the control circuit 20, retrieved from avideo file that is stored in the memory 16, derived from an incomingvideo data stream that is received by the radio circuit 28 or obtainedby any other suitable method.

The mobile telephone 10 may further include one or more I/O interface(s)36. The I/O interface(s) 36 may be in the form of typical mobiletelephone I/O interfaces and may include one or more electricalconnectors. As is typical, the I/O interface(s) 36 may be used to couplethe mobile telephone 10 to a battery charger to charge a battery of apower supply unit (PSU) 38 within the mobile telephone 10. In addition,or in the alternative, the I/O interface(s) 36 may serve to connect themobile telephone 10 to a headset assembly (e.g., a personal handsfree(PHF) device) that has a wired interface with the mobile telephone 10.Further, the I/O interface(s) 36 may serve to connect the mobiletelephone 10 to a personal computer or other device via a data cable forthe exchange of data. The mobile telephone 10 may receive operatingpower via the I/O interface(s) 36 when connected to a vehicle poweradapter or an electricity outlet power adapter. The PSU 38 may supplypower to operate the mobile telephone 10 in the absence of an externalpower source.

The mobile telephone 10 also may include a system clock 40 for clockingthe various components of the mobile telephone 10, such as the controlcircuit 20 and the memory 16.

The mobile telephone 10 may include a camera 42 for taking digitalpictures and/or movies. Image and/or video files corresponding to thepictures and/or movies may be stored in the memory 16.

The mobile telephone 10 also may include a position data receiver 44,such as a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, Galileo satellitesystem receiver or the like. The position data receiver 44 may beinvolved in determining the location of the mobile telephone 10.

The mobile telephone 10 also may include a local wireless interface 46,such as an infrared transceiver and/or an RF interface (e.g., aBluetooth interface), for establishing communication with an accessory,another mobile radio terminal, a computer or another device. Forexample, the local wireless interface 46 may operatively couple themobile telephone 10 to a headset assembly (e.g., a PHF device) in anembodiment where the headset assembly has a corresponding wirelessinterface.

With additional reference to FIG. 3, the mobile telephone 10 may beconfigured to operate as part of a communications system 48. The system48 may include a communications network 50 having a server 52 (orservers) for managing calls placed by and destined to the mobiletelephone 10, transmitting data to the mobile telephone 10 and carryingout any other support functions. The server 52 communicates with themobile telephone 10 via a transmission medium. The transmission mediummay be any appropriate device or assembly, including, for example, acommunications tower (e.g., a cell tower), another mobile telephone, awireless access point, a satellite, etc. Portions of the network mayinclude wireless transmission pathways. The network 50 may support thecommunications activity of multiple mobile telephones 10 and other typesof end user devices.

As will be appreciated, the server 52 may be configured as a typicalcomputer system used to carry out server functions and may include aprocessor configured to execute software containing logical instructionsthat embody the functions of the server 52 and a memory to store suchsoftware. In one embodiment, the server 52 may be configured to storeand execute an audiovisual file support function 54 that interacts withthe audiovisual file management function 12 of the mobile telephone 10.Details of the audiovisual file support function 54 will be describedbelow in greater detail. In one embodiment, the audiovisual file supportfunction 54 may be a program stored on a computer or machine readablemedium. The audiovisual file support function 54 may be a stand-alonesoftware application or may form a part of a software application thatcarries out additional tasks related to the functions of the server 54.In one embodiment, the functions of the audiovisual file supportfunction 54 may be carried out by one or more servers located outsidethe domain of the communications network 50. For instance, some of thefeatures of the audiovisual file support function 54 may be hosted by anInternet server or a database server.

The generation of a thumbnail image for an audiovisual file may becarried out by the audiovisual file management function 12 as executedby the mobile telephone 10, the audiovisual file support function 54 asexecuted by the server 52, or in part by the audiovisual file managementfunction 12 and in part by the audiovisual file support function 54. Inone embodiment, the generation and management of thumbnail images foraudiovisual files could be offered as a service to the user of themobile telephone 10.

In some embodiments, the thumbnail may include information derive fromusers of plural electronic devices. The users may be arranged in acommunity in which the user of the mobile telephone 10 has joined. Forinstance, a community may be a group of friends who wish to share andorganize thoughts and use patterns related to specific audiovisualfiles. Another exemplary community may be a group of persons who share acommon interest in a particular artist or audiovisual content genre,although communities that include persons with dissimilar music tastesare possible. Some or all of the members of a community may not be knownto the user of the most telephone 10.

In these embodiments, the mobile telephone 10 and/or the server 52 maycollect information from the various members of the community, analyzethe information and construct an appropriate thumbnail for the user ofmobile telephone 10 as described in greater detail below. Depending onthe size of a particular community, governing copyright laws and/ordigital rights management (DRM) protections, the analysis associatedwith the community of users may focus on data collection and analysis,rather than the sharing or copying of music files. A thumbnail thatincludes information derived from a community of users may be referredto as a community media thumbnail. It will be recognized that not allthumbnails described in this document contain information derived from acommunity of users, but may nevertheless be referred to in someinstances as a community media thumbnail.

The thumbnail generated for the audiovisual file may graphically presentitems of information about the audiovisual file to the user. In oneembodiment, the thumbnail may be a collection of sub-plural icons and/orimages that each represent or convey different types of information. Forinstance, each sub-icon may correspond to a class of information or datacategory. For example, one class of information may relate to data aboutthe specific file of interest. Focusing on an audio file that stores asong (also referred to as a track), the file-specific information mayinclude one or more of a genre of the song, a tempo of the song, therecording date of the song, a length of the song, the instrument orinstruments that play a dominant role in the song, a parental controlrating, and so forth. These items of information may be determined, forexample, by values contained in respective metadata fields that areappended to the song.

Another exemplary class of information may relate to commercial activityor use of the song. The commercial activity or use may include, forexample, how well the song scored on a music chart and when the song'stop score on the chart was achieved. Scoring on music charts istypically a numerical ranking based on sales of the song as comparedwith sales of other songs. The music chart may be a music chart for thegenre of the song and may be a domestic music chart for the country inwhich the user resides or an international music chart. Anotherexemplary type of commercial activity or use of the song may include anymovies, television shows, sporting events, or advertisements in whichthe song was used.

With additional reference to FIG. 4, another exemplary class ofinformation may include data derived from a community 56 of users. Eachuser in the community 56 may have a library 58 made up of a collectionof audiovisual files. In the example of FIG. 4, the community 56 hasthree users and each user has a library of music identified respectivelyas library 58 a, library 58 b and library 58 c. It will be understoodthat an audiovisual community may have more than three users. Followingthe example of generating thumbnails for audio files (e.g., songs), eachlibrary 58 will tend to have a different collection of songs. In manyinstances, there will be overlap between libraries 58 of the varioususers that make up the community 56. It is possible that all of theusers from the community 56 will have one or more songs in common ineach of their respective libraries 58. The song or songs that are ineach of the libraries 58 may be identified as common music 60. In someembodiments, the common music 60 need not appear in each individuallibrary 58. For example, if a particular song is found in apredetermined percentage of libraries 58 from the community 56 (e.g.,fifty percent, seventy-five percent, etc.), the song may be deemed to bepart of the common music 60.

In addition to the common music 60, other information may be derivedfrom the community 56 and used in the generation of a thumbnail for asong. The community information may include whether a song belongs toany of the libraries 58 that constitute the community 56. The communityinformation may include the number or percentage of libraries 58 thatcontain the song. The community information may include the frequencywith which the community 56 member users listen to each song within thecommunity 56. The community information may include user ratings of eachsong within the community 56. The community information may include usercommentary for each song in the community 56. The community informationmay include user recommendations. One exemplary format for userrecommendations may be a format that specifies one song and states thatif a listener liked that song, he or she may like a second, recommendedsong.

Some or all of the information that is associated with the audio filemay be stored with the audio file, such as in the form of metadata ortags that are appended to the audio file. Also, some or all of theinformation that is associated with the audio file may be stored in adatabase that is managed by one or both of the audiovisual filemanagement function 12 or the audiovisual file support function 54.

The information that is associated with the audio file may be used toconstruct a thumbnail that is representative of the file. The thumbnailmay be displayed as part of a graphical user interface (GUI). Forinstance, the thumbnail may be displayed in a browsable directory thatdisplays various files stored by the memory 16. The thumbnail maygraphically combine various items of information that are associatedwith the audio file to enhance the user's experience while browsingthrough the audio files that make up user's audio file library 58.

With additional reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, respectively illustrated arean exemplary schematic block diagram of an audio file thumbnail 62 andan exemplary graphical representation of an audio file thumbnail 62.Until populated with specific attributes and graphics, the thumbnail 62may be thought of as a thumbnail template that includes variousthumbnail components, such as a background 64 and one or more sub-icons66 overlaid with respect to the background 64. Data related to a songmay be analyzed for each of a number of data categories. Based on theresults of the data analysis, a graphical attribute for the background64 (e.g., a color of the background 64) may be identified and a graphicand/or graphical attribute (e.g., size of a graphic) for each sub-icon66 may be identified. The identified graphics and/or graphicalattributes may be assembled for visual display as the thumbnail 62. Inthe illustrated example, there are four sub-icons 66 that arerespectively labeled as a commercial information sub-icon 66 a, anadditional file data sub-icon 66 b, a community information sub-icon 66c, and an action sub-icon 66 d. Each of these sub-icons 66 will bedescribed in greater detail below. Information conveyed by thebackground 64 alternatively may be conveyed by a sub-icon 66 orvice-versa.

The background 64 may be used to display different information dependingon user settings, default operation of the audiovisual file managementfunction 12, or default operation of the audiovisual file supportfunction 54. In one embodiment, the background 64 may display album artassociated with the album on which the song was released.

In another embodiment, the background 64 may be a color that is selectedto convey age information and/or play frequency information about theassociated song. For instance, the colors may represent the song's age,the song's play frequency by the user over a specified period of time(e.g., the last week, the last month, the last three months, the lastyear, the time since release of the song by the artist, etc.), thesong's play frequency by the community 56 over a specified period oftime, the song's play frequency by a particular radio station over aspecified period of time, or a combination of these parameters. Also,multiple colors (e.g., color stripes) may be used to separatelyrepresent multiple parameters.

One exemplary color for use as the background 64 is blue to convey anotion that activity with the song is infrequent or “cool.” A bluebackground 64 may represent that the associated song is rarely played.The shade of blue may reflect a degree of frequency of playback. Forinstance, a song played once a month may have a light blue color and asong played once every four months may have a darker or “colder” hue.

A warmer tone may be used to represent a song that is played often. Forexample, yellow, orange or red may be used to symbolize that a song hasa high incidence of playback over a specified time period. The color orthe color's shade may reflect a degree of frequency of playback. Forinstance, yellow or light red may indicate moderate playback frequency,orange or medium red may indicate relatively frequent playback, and redor bright red may indicate very frequent playback.

The background 64 for songs that are relatively old based on theirrelease date may have a grey color. The shade of the grey color mayportray relative age. For instance, songs that are thirty years old mayhave a different shade of grey relative to songs that are ten years old.

The background 64 for songs that are relatively new based on theirrelease date may have a green color. For example, songs released in thepast month or past three months may have a background 64 that is green.Similar to the other colors for the background 64, the shade of greenmay be indicative of a temporal relationship to the song's release date.

The commercial information sub-icon 66 a may be used to conveyinformation about commercial activity related to the song. In theillustrated examples, a star is used to indicate the relative success ofthe song on one or more music charts. The higher the song rose on thechart(s), the larger the star may appear. No star may be displayed forsongs that did not appear on a music chart, or a relatively small starmay be displayed. In one embodiment, a scoring technique may be used toweigh various success factors related to the song. Exemplary successfactors may be the number of charts on which the song appeared, thenumber of weeks the song appeared on each of those charts, the highestranking achieved for the song and the number of weeks at the highestranking. The size of the commercial information sub-icon 66 a may becommensurate with the score the song receives compared to the scorereceived by other songs.

The user may invoke display of additional commercial activity related tothe song by using an input device (e.g., mouse, keypad, navigationswitch, touch sensitive display, etc.) to move a pointer over thecommercial information sub-icon 66 a. Other inputs to invoke display ofthe commercial activity information are possible, such as menu-driveninteraction with the electronic device or by clicking on the commercialinformation sub-icon 66 a. As an example, the user may move a mousepointer over the commercial information sub-icon 66 a to invoke thedisplay of additional information related to the commercial informationsub-icon 66 a. In turn, the audiovisual file management function 12 maydisplay data regarding music chart success of the song, such as musicchart ranking and dates of the rankings. Other commercial activityrelated to the song may be displayed using this technique. For instance,movies or television shows in which the song was used may be displayedby interaction with the commercial information sub-icon 66 a.

The additional file data sub-icon 66 b may be used to displayinformation related to the song. In the illustrated examples, theadditional file data sub-icon 66 b graphically shows a genre of thesong. In one embodiment, each genre may be associated with a differentgraphic that is representative of the genre. In FIG. 6, for example, theadditional file data sub-icon 66 b is an image of Marilyn Monroe, whichhas become associated with the “British pop music” genre, also referredto as “Britpop.”

Other information that may be displayed by the additional file datasub-icon 66 b may include length of the song, the tempo of the song, therecording date of the song, the types of instruments that arepredominant in the song, the parental control rating of the song, and soforth. The type of information displayed by the additional file datasub-icon 66 b may be selected by user preference setting. Also, userinput device interaction with the additional file data sub-icon 66 b maychange the displayed information. For instance, if the preferencesettings are configured to display one category of song-relatedinformation (e.g., the genre of the song), user input device interactionwith the additional file data sub-icon 66 b may invoke the display ofthe remaining song-related information that is associated with the song(e.g., song length, tempo, recording date, predominant instruments,etc.) or may toggle the displayed information between two or moreinformation categories.

The community information sub-icon 66 c may be used to conveyinformation about the interest level of the community 56 in the song. Inthe illustrated examples, a graphic representing people is used toindicate the relative interest level in the song by the members of thecommunity 56. The greater the interest in the song, the larger thegraphic may appear. For instance, the size of the community informationsub-icon 66 c may vary depending on how many persons in the community 56have the same song in their respective libraries 58. In this example,the size of the community information sub-icon 66 c may be based on anumeric value of how many users in the community 56 have the song intheir library 58 or the size of the community information sub-icon 66 cmay be based on a percentage of the libraries 58 in the community 56that include the song. Alternatively, the number of people depicted inthe graphic may be used to represent interest in the song (e.g., greaterinterest may translate into more depicted people).

The user may invoke display of additional community information relatedto the song by using an input device to interact with the communityinformation sub-icon 66 c. As an example, the user may move a mousepointer over the community information sub-icon 66 c to invoke thedisplay of additional information related to the community informationsub-icon 66 c. In turn, the audiovisual file management function 12 maydisplay various data items. The displayed data may include, but is notlimited to, one or more of the identities of the users that have thesong in their library 58 and/or contact information for those users,individual and/or collective user ratings for the song, user commentsrelated to the song, and user recommendations for other songs that mayappeal to the user of the mobile telephone 10 if the user enjoys thesong associated with the thumbnail 62.

The action sub-icon 66 d may be used to convey information about othersources of information about the song or the song's artist. In oneembodiment, the action sub-icon 66 d may serve as a mechanism toredirect the user to an Internet webpage or other source of information.For example, the action sub-icon 66 d may be a link to an Internetwebpage. In another example, such as when multiple Internet webpages areassociated with the song, the user may interact with the action sub-icon66 d to display a list of links to the various Internet webpages. Theaction sub-icon 66 d also may be used to direct the user to photographs,videos or other versions of the song that have been associated with thesong by the user of the mobile telephone 10, by other users in thecommunity 56 or by one of the functions 12 or 54 based on acomputer-implemented knowledge base. In the illustrated embodiment, theaction sub-icon 66 d is a graphic.

With additional reference to FIGS. 7 through 10, four exemplary icons 62are illustrated for four corresponding songs. As illustrated, the song'sartist, song's title and/or other filename may be displayed inassociation with the thumbnail 62 in a filename field 68. In theillustrated examples, the thumbnail 62 of FIG. 7 is associated with thesong “Wonderwall” by the artist Oasis, the thumbnail 62 of FIG. 8 isassociated with the song “Wind of Change” by the artist The Scorpions,the thumbnail 62 of FIG. 9 is associated with the song “That's That” bythe artist Snoop Dogg, and the thumbnail 62 of FIG. 10 is associatedwith the 2007 remix of the song “Highway to Hell” by the artist AC/DC.As illustrated in these figures, the graphics used for the sub-icons 66are not unique for a specific audiovisual file. But the combination ofsub-icons 66 and background 64 for an associated audiovisual file maymake the thumbnail 62 as a whole representative of the associatedaudiovisual file.

The icons 62 portrayed in FIGS. 7 through 10 illustrate variations inthe appearance of the thumbnail 62 based on information about the songand data derived from commercial and community activities associatedwith the song are illustrated. For instance, the commercial informationsub-icon 66 a and the community information sub-icon 66 c show that thesong “Wonderwall” had better commercial success and community 56interest than the other exemplary songs. As indicated above, the icons62 may visually convey additional information about the associatedaudiovisual file, such as genre of the song through the additional filedata sub-icon 66 b. Also, while not apparent from the appendedmonochromatic figures, color of the background 64 may be used to conveyadditional information. The collection of information displayed by thethumbnail 62 provides the user with comprehendible and specificcharacteristics of each song.

Other information also may be conveyed through the thumbnail 62 and/orfilename field 68. For instance, an indication of a beat rate (e.g.,beats per minute) associated with a song may be added to the thumbnail62, the filename, or some other file representation. The beat rate maybe determined by any appropriate technique of analyzing audio data. Thebeat rate may represent an average beat rate over the length of the songor a relevant portion of the song.

The beat rate information may provide the user with an efficient andintuitive indication of the tempo of the song. In one embodiment, thebeat rate information may be visually display by pulsing a text or agraphic component of the thumbnail 62 or the filename field 68. Forinstance, a song with a low beat rate may have a slowly pulsatingfilename, and/or the filename may be written in a small or standard sizefont. A song with a moderate beat rate may have a somewhat fasterpulsating filename, and/or the filename may be written in a somewhatlarger or bolder font than a song with a lower beat rate. Similarly, asong with a high beat rate may have a quickly pulsating filename, and/orthe filename may be written in a larger or bolder font than a song witha lower beat rate. In addition to pulsing the filename or instead ofpulsing filename, one or more of the sub-icons 66 and/or the background64 may be made to pulse in a manner commensurate with the beat rateassociated with the song. In one embodiment, the filename, a portion ofthe thumbnail 62 or the entire thumbnail 62 may be made to pulse at arate that is the same as the beat rate. In still other embodiments, allor part of the thumbnail 62 and/or the filename may be sized, may becolored and/or may be animated in a way to convey a relative indicationof the tempo of the song.

Song tempo also may be conveyed in a tactile manner. For instance, asthe user browses through a file list (e.g., displayed by filename and/orthumbnail 62) or some other playlist, a vibrator (not shown) may beactivated to vibrate the mobile telephone 10 in a manner indicative ofthe beat rate associated with a selected one of the songs from the filelist or playlist.

Another example parameter that may be conveyed in a similar manner maybe an energy level associated with the song. For instance, “smooth” jazzmay have a lower energy level than “hard” rock. The relative differencein energy level may be displayed through the size, the boldness, thecolor or other characteristic of a graphic component (e.g., sub-icon 66or background 64) of the thumbnail 62 or a text component of thefilename field 68.

The thumbnail 62 may be associated or combined with a music previewfeature that is used to playback a portion of the song. For instance, apreview portion of the song may be about two or three seconds of thesong that demonstrates the content of the song. The music previewfeature may be invoked, for example, by user interaction with a userinput device to place a cursor over the background 64 or other portionof the thumbnail 62, or by selecting the thumbnail 62 from a displayedseries of thumbnails.

Disclosed has been a system and method for generating a thumbnail imagefor an audiovisual file. When audiovisual files are displayed in adirectory using the thumbnail 62, the directory may become aninteractive audiovisual library for the user. The interactiveaudiovisual library may be for the user's own audiovisual content, suchas music files, image files and/or video files that are stored by and/orplayed back by an electronic device belonging to the user. In othersituations, the interactive audiovisual library may correspond toanother person's audiovisual content, such as a music library 58 that isstored by another electronic device belonging to a user who is a memberof the community 56. In another exemplary situation, the interactiveaudiovisual library may correspond to audiovisual content available tothe user for playback, downloading and/or purchase. In this situation,the audiovisual content files that form the library of audiovisualcontent may be stored by a server or other electronic device that ismanaged by a service provider, such as an online music and/or videostore.

Regardless of the operational context in which the thumbnails are usedto represent associated audiovisual files, the interactive audiovisuallibrary approach described in this disclosure may convey informationabout the music or other audiovisual content contained in the associatedaudiovisual files to the user. The interactive audiovisual libraryapproach may also provide interactive features (e.g., links to othercontent) to the user. Therefore, it will be appreciated that a systemand method has application in a variety of operational contexts so thatservice providers, content providers, artists, users, user communitiesand other persons or entities may have a variety of opportunities topresent information about audiovisual content contained in a database orin a file directory. For instance, when applied in a commercialenvironment, the thumbnails may be used to generate suggestions formusic downloads and sales. In addition, return traffic to a website ordirectory may be increased by the manner in which the thumbnails may beupdated to reflect ongoing commercial activity and community/useractivity associated with the underlying audiovisual content.

In one commercial environment, a media browser may suggest specificaudiovisual files for purchase by a user based on the purchasingbehavior of other users that belong to the same community 56 as theuser. Thumbnails associated with the recommended content may bedisplayed to the user so that information about that content may beconveyed to the user. In one embodiment, the thumbnail may be“grayed-out” (e.g., visible but without color tone and/or withoutoperability of interactive functions) until the user downloads or paysfor the associated content.

As will be appreciated, the thumbnail for an item of audiovisual contentmay be generated by running an analysis of data associated with theaudiovisual content. As part of the analysis, the quality of theaudiovisual content may be determined. Quality may be measured as afunction of a version number of the audiovisual content, file size, filetype (e.g., WAV file or MP3 file for audio files), music sampling rate,or any other appropriate criteria. If it is found that a newer versionof the audiovisual content or a better quality file exists for theaudiovisual content, a suggestion may be made to the user to replace orupdate the audiovisual content from a content service provider.

In another operational context, the analysis that is made to generatethe thumbnail may be applied to the user's audiovisual content libraryto create a playlist for a particular situation. For example, the usermay request that the audiovisual file management function 12 create aplaylist for music that is liked by the user and one or more specifiedusers from the community 56. For example, if user A is the user of themobile telephone 10 and user A is in the presence of users B and C, thenuser A may request a playlist that each of these persons will likelyenjoy. In one embodiment, content for such a playlist may be derivedfrom the audiovisual content library of user A or from music librariesassociated with each of the specified users.

In yet another operational context, the user may request that theaudiovisual file management function 12 and/or the audiovisual filesupport function 54 add audiovisual content to the user's library bypurchasing or downloading audiovisual content that is not alreadypresent in the user's library but is present in the libraries of otherspecified users or has been recommended by one or more specified users.

In still another operational context, the analysis that is made togenerate the thumbnail may be extended to provide updates to the userwith information about new songs or albums for which the user may havean interest. For instance, if a relatively high percentage of users inthe community 56 has purchased or downloaded certain items of new musicor if specified individuals who have purchased or downloaded certainitems of new music, these items may be identified to the user.

Although certain embodiments have been shown and described, it isunderstood that equivalents and modifications falling within the scopeof the appended claims will occur to others who are skilled in the artupon the reading and understanding of this specification.

1. A method of generating an interactive audiovisual library havingthumbnail images that represent plural audiovisual files graphicallyrepresenting an audiovisual file with a thumbnail image, eachaudiovisual file used to store audiovisual content, comprising:generating a thumbnail image for each of the plural audiovisual filesby: analyzing data related to the audiovisual file for each of pluraldata categories relating to the content of the audiovisual file, eachdata category associated with a portion of a thumbnail template; foreach data category, identifying at least one of a graphic or a graphicalattribute based on the data analysis; and generating the thumbnail imageby applying the identified at least one graphic or graphical attributefor each data category to the associated portion of the thumbnailtemplate, wherein each graphic or ,graphical attribute visuallyrepresents a corresponding property of the audiovisual file to a user;and displaying the thumbnails in a directory as an interactiveaudiovisual library of the audiovisual content stored by the audiovisualfiles, each thumbnail displayed in the directory configured to providedaccess to the corresponding audiovisual file; and wherein the portionsof the thumbnail template include a background and at least one sub-iconoverlaid with respect to the background.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein at least one portion of the thumbnail image is user interactive.3. The method of claim 2, wherein the interactive portion of thethumbnail image provides a link to at least one of an Internet webpageor a file that has an association with the audiovisual content.
 4. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the interactive portion of the thumbnailimage provides information about the audiovisual content.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein the thumbnails are displayed on a display of amobile telephone.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the datacategories relates to at least one of age of the audiovisual content orplay frequency of the audiovisual content.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein a color of the portion of the thumbnail template correspondingto the age or play frequency data category is selected to portray atleast one of relative age of the audiovisual content or relative playfrequency of the audiovisual content.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinone of the data categories relates to commercial success of theaudiovisual content.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein a graphicalattribute of the portion of the thumbnail image corresponding to thecommercial success data category is selected to convey relativecommercial success of the audiovisual content relative to other items ofaudiovisual content.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein a graphicalattribute of the portion of the thumbnail image corresponding to thecommunity interest data category is selected to convey relativecommunity interest in the audiovisual content relative to other items ofaudiovisual content.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein a community ofusers of audiovisual content is formed and one of the data categoriesrelates to community interest in the audiovisual content.
 12. The methodof claim 1, wherein one of the data categories relates to genre of theaudiovisual content and the corresponding portion of the thumbnail imageis a graphic that represents the genre of the audiovisual content. 13.The method of claim 1, wherein one of the data categories relates todominant musical instrument used in the audiovisual content and thecorresponding portion of the thumbnail image is a graphic thatrepresents the dominant musical instrument.
 14. The method of claim 1,wherein the audiovisual content is a song and the method furtherincludes visually representing a tempo of the song by pulsing at least aportion of the thumbnail image at a rate commensurate with a beat ratevalue associated with the song.